Twists and Lies
by Amieva
Summary: Tahnorra prompt from therentyoupay. Three lies Tahno told, and one he didn't.


Angst prompt from therentyoupay.

Tahnorra; angst/introspective, 500-1,000 words, "Three lies Tahno told, and one he didn't."

I'M SORRY! I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF AND I WENT OVER THE LIMIT!

* * *

**"No, thanks. I'm still hungover from last night... Yeah... I'm a cheap drunk... See ya."**

When Tahno hung up the phone he glanced at the fading ink on the back of his hand and grimaced. Barely legible were seven digits that he wished he could forget forever. But there they were, scribbled haphazardly on his skin and permanently burned into his memory. "Fuck this," he snarled and made for the bathroom and his bar of soap. He hunched over the sink and scrubbed at his hand under a stream of scalding water. The steam quickly engulfed him and fogged his mirror into uselessness.

It was supposed to have been a night out with his friends. A night to forget about everything that had happened in the last months. The pro-bending. The glory. The last match... Amon... The fall.

Seeing Korra again. _Kneeling infront of her, he watched her eyes spark and glow. She wore the face of the Avatar. She rested her hands gently on his face. Her touch was gentle but the power behind it was unmistakable. He drew in a sharp breath as his body and spirit were once again made whole._

Tahno twisted the tap with more force than was necessary, and without looking up, he swiped his hand across the mirror. He was whole again, but his face still bore the marks of sleepless nights, the tremors and fear, the self-loathing. He had told himself** "If I could get my bending back, then it'll be over. It'll be like it never happened. I can have it all." **But here he was, alone in his little apartment (he had to downgrade since losing his only livlihood to the Equalists), and glaring at his reflection. Who was he? Tahno the pro-bender? Tahno the playboy? Tahno the cheat? Tahno the useless sack of crap with nothing to offer?

_ The Avatar's arrival was announced far and wide across Republic City. Tahno, among the other blood-bending victims, were invited to a private audience at City Hall. Tahno got up early that day and actually did his hair for the first time since losing his bending. He met up with Ming and Shaozu in the reception area. The Avatar was having them come in one-by-one. Ming had already been in to see her and was describing the experience to Shaozu when Tahno approached them. He was clutching a fist full of rocks and he had tears in his eyes. He had actually embraced Tahno when he saw him. Tahno awkwardly patted Ming on the back and congratulated him. Shaozu was called in shortly afterwards._

_ "I'm going to try to get back into the arena." Ming said excitedly as they waited for Shaozu to return and for Tahno to get called in. "I know, we've got a bad rep from that last game, but still... What does it matter? I'm going to play totally clean this time."_

_ Tahno didn't want to think about the last game, but he nodded and made some sort of positive sounding grunt in response._

_ "Shaozu said he was going to try to get a job at the power plant... Can you imagine, SHAOZU working?! He'll get back into the arena in a week."_

_ Another grunt. Tahno's leg was bouncing as he felt his impatience grow. "Hey, lets go get drinks after this." he suggested. "On Shaozu."_

_ Ming smirked and nodded, and blessedly stopped talking about pro-bending._

_ Shaozu returned. His eyes were bright and his cheeks were flushed with colour. "I'm warm..." he said in a daze._

_ Tahno heard his name get called. He stood and turned to his old team mates. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet up with you later." They nodded and left without argument._

_ Tahno was lead to a door that had "Councellor Tenzin" embossed on a copper plate. He was shown into a moderate-sized room with very modest furnishings. Everything was shades of yellow, gold and orange. In the center of the room, in high contrast to his surroundings, stood Korra in soft blue. She smirked at him. "Hey Pretty-Boy." she said. Without any warning Tahno felt his gut twist. It twisted again when she threw her arms around him and gave him a firm squeeze._

"Fuck this!" he snapped again. He plunged his hands into the sink, brought them back up coated thickly in icy water and doused his face. He turned on his heel and stormed back into the front room of his apartment. He threw himself onto his dingy old couch and allowed his hair to drip water on the worn wooden floor.

_"CHEERS! To the Whitefalls Wolfbats!" Ming thrust his third glass of cactus wine into the center of the table. Tahno and Shaozu cheerfully reciprocated the toast, then the three of them downed their drinks. Tahno was feeling delightfully fuzzy-headed. One more and he'd be drunk. Ming poured them all another round._

_ "Cheers to the Avatar!" Shaozu cried. They were about to clink glasses again when the Avatar herself walked into the restaurant and caught them by surprise. They were sitting in their usual booth at the back, so she didn't look their way immediately. Tahno had a moment to feel that twist in his gut again. He started to stand up. He was Tahno the waterbender. Tahno the magnificent. Tahno the unstoppable. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. He wanted to kiss Korra and there was nothing standing in his-_

_ There were three other people with Korra as she walked in. There was the Sato woman, and the Fire Ferret brothers._

_ The fire bender was holding Korra's hand. The two of them were smiling._

_ From somewhere beside him Tahno heard Shaozu hollar again. Ming joined him. They caught Korra's attention. She waved to them and hauled her party to their booth. The twist in Tahno's stomach began to feel more like nausea._

_ "Hey guys!" she said cheerfully. Ming shoved over and offered her a seat. The earth bender (Bobbin?) disappeared to get more chairs. It was with some grim satisfaction that Tahno noticed Mako trying to subtly not glare in his direction._

_ What ensued was the most uncomfortable half hour of Tahno's life. As Ming and Shaozu, Bolin, Asami and Korra laughed and chattered away, Tahno silently waited for Korra to tell Mako to back off. Take his hands off of her. He was sitting too close. She didn't need to lean on him like that. When it didn't happen, Tahno got up and excused himself. "I'm getting a headache. I'm heading home," he said. He ignored their feigned protests, left his share of the bill on the table, and left._

_ He was almost out the door when a hand grasped his shoulder and he was forced to turn around. Tahno looked down at the beaming face of the Avatar. The twist returned, followed by a surge of annoyance when he saw that she had that damn red scarf draped over her shoulders (can't even let her go off on her own for a moment, can you!) "What do you want, Uh-vatar..." he drawled, trying to sound as bored and as Tahno-ish as possible. She sneered playfully and gave his shoulder a light punch._

_ "Don't run off just yet, Pretty Boy! I wanted to catch up with you a bit more."_

_ Twist._

_ "Here," she grabbed his hand, and before Tahno could figure out what she was doing, she snatched a pen off the front counter and scribbled something across the back of his fist. "I'm staying on Air Temple Island for a few more days before I have to head back to the South Pole."_

_ Tahno looked down at the ink. It was a phone number._

_ "Ask for Naga. It's something stupid to do with security, but they'll let you through."_

_ "Are you seriously giving me your number? Did you clear this with Tall, Dark and Broody?"_

_ Korra looked at him in confusion. Tahno nodded in Mako's direction. The fire bender was watching them. Korra smiled. "Pffft." She snorted. "Whatever. He's still sore about that last- um..." she flushed and looked down suddenly. Tahno could guess why. The last match. She was trying to spare his feelings._

_**"I'm over it."**__ Tahno lied. Well, it wasn't entirely a lie. He was over the fact that his bending was gone, because he had that back. But Korra..._

_ Korra let out a breath of relief. "Right! So call me tomorrow, okay?"_

_ "Yeah, sure... See you around."_

The back of his hand was scrubbed raw, but it was clean. He could wash her out of his life just as easily. She would go back to her training, her Avatar duties and her fucking boyfriend who never had to deal with sudden crippling powerlessness. Tahno would go back to figuring out what to do with his sorry excuse for a life.

No.

No. He had spent the last months wallowing in self-pity and anguish. Tahno's fingers curled into a fist as he stood up, crossed the room and reached for his phone. Before he could stop himself he dialed the very number he had just tried to erase.

The phone rang twice before an officious voice answered. "You've reached the residence of Councellor Tenzin. To whom may I direct your call?"

Tahno swallowed. "Naga." he said.

There was a pause, then the voice said. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that she's had to end her visit early and returned home this morning. May I take a message?"

"Uh, no. Thank-you."

Tahno dropped the receiver.

**I'll be fine.**


End file.
